Various types of remote-control operating and/or sensing or measuring systems are known, and the present invention is specifically directed to the type of system described in the referenced U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,403, MEIER. The system of the referenced patent is specifically arranged to selectively control operation, or sense a measurement value of devices located in automotive vehicles, in which the various devices are spatially distributed throughout the vehicles. For control and transmission of acknowledgment and/or measurement signals, a ring bus system is provided which, for example, can be located within the vehicle and to which receivers are selectively attachable at any location, in which the receivers are supplied with response codes for selective addressing in accordance with the specifically assigned code from operating switches or an operating sequencing circuit. The arrangement is a digital multiplex control system. In accordance with this disclosure, the ring bus system has, besides a power supply bus, a control bus on which, from a central station, clock signals, synchronizing, and control signals are applied, connected to and transmitted to all the receivers associated with all the loads. The respective receivers contain decoding networks so that only that one of the receivers will respond to signals on the lines of the ring bus system which decodes its assigned code on the control bus. The various control signals are applied in cyclical, digital pulse sequence from the central station to the control bus. To report back to the central station that a command applied thereto actually has been executed, an acknowledgment signal is applied to an acknowledgment bus which is part of the ring line or cable. A display, then, indicates that the specific command actually has been executed.
As the number of controlled elements increases, the number of electrical connections to the ring bus, necessarily, will also increase and this, then, decreases the operating reliability of the overall system. Carelessly made connections which, for example, may be made in the field after a vehicle is originally manufactured, for example upon connecting another accessory to the ring bus system, misconnections and the like detract from the overall reliability. For example, if at a later time the user of the vehicle decides to add a remote-control antenna to an existing electrical system, connection of the respective receiver and the code assigned or associated with such an additional remote-control unit may cause difficulty.